4 Tips to Select the Best Health Plan for Your Health -- and Wallet -- During Open Enrollment

In many states, open enrollment for health insurance began on Nov. 1, and it will run until Jan. 15 or 16, 2024. Now is the time to select a new health insurance plan for 2024. This time of year comes with a lot of questions, and there are a lot of options to be weighed when you pick a plan -- high deductible or not? What metal level do I need? What's the right coverage for me?

Well, worry not (OK, maybe that's not realistic -- worry less). Whether you're choosing a new plan through your employer or facing down the healthcare marketplace on HealthCare.gov or your state's web portal, let's run through a few helpful tips to land on the best health plan for you and your finances.

1. See how much you spent in 2023

The year's not quite over yet, but you should be able to get a fairly good idea of how much you spent on health insurance premiums, copays, and various bills in 2023. Go through your checking account or credit card statements (actually, having an easier time tracking how much you spend for medical care is one point in favor of putting medical bills on a credit card).

Having at least a rough idea of how much you paid for medical expenses this year will make it easier to estimate how much you can spend in 2024. I do have the sad duty of reporting that according to data amassed by Peterson-KFF, you're likely to spend between 2% and 10% more on insurance premiums in 2024, as they are going up (just like basically every other expense in American life).

Unfortunately, there's no planning for a medical catastrophe, but you might have regular medical expenses that pop up that you can plan for. For example, I usually end up with a winter ailment like a sinus infection every year. If I know that I'm likely to need a trip to urgent care and a round of antibiotics, I can ensure that those expenses will be mostly covered by my healthcare plan.

2. Consider who you're insuring

You might not only be buying insurance coverage for yourself. If you have a spouse or domestic partner, kids, or both, you might be on the hook for insurance to cover all of you. So also think about everyone else's health needs alongside your own.

Does your spouse have a chronic condition? Do your kids play sports? Ensure the coverage you're buying is adequate to minimize the hit to your checking account from medical bills.

3. Decide whether you'd rather pay more upfront or over time

When you pick a new health plan, you're given the choice of four different metal levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. These inform the cost of your premiums and the level of coverage you get.

Bronze plans have the lowest premium costs, but also often the highest deductibles (the amount you must pay before your insurer picks up the tab). A Platinum plan will cost you a pretty penny every month, but you'll have a low deductible and more comprehensive coverage. So it's worth deciding whether you'd rather save every month (and perhaps put the money you're saving into a health savings account), or pay more and be assured of not receiving big bills after care.

4. Pick any extras you qualify for

Speaking of that HSA, if you want an eligible plan, you'll need to read the fine print to see if you can get one. For 2024, a plan eligible for a health savings account must have a deductible of at least $1,600 for an individual plan and $3,200 for family coverage. And the out-of-pocket maximum is $8,050 for individual coverage and $16,100 for families.

Another extra you might have available to you, if you're insured through your employer, is a flexible spending account (FSA). These can be pretty neat, as they let you set aside pre-tax dollars for medical expenses. But unlike an HSA, you can't roll over those funds from year to year; you must use them or lose them. So think hard about whether it makes sense for you to contribute to one.

You probably have a lot of questions about health insurance and open enrollment, so I hope my tips here have helped. If you need additional help, you can reach out to an insurance navigator or broker via HealthCare.gov's Find Assistance page. Good luck with insurance shopping!